“SILVER” WINS BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD IN SOUTH KOREA
Natalia Koniarz’s documentary “Silver” has won the Best Cinematography Award in the International Competition at the 11th Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea. It is the latest distinction for a film that continues to make a strong mark on the international festival circuit.
Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival is South Korea’s first international mountain film festival. Its programme focuses on films exploring mountains, adventure and exploration, as well as nature and environmental issues. The 11th edition of the festival took place in Ulju, Ulsan Metropolitan City, from 18 to 22 September 2026. This year, “Silver” by Natalia Koniarz received the Best Cinematography Award in the International Competition. The film’s cinematography was created by Stanisław Cuske.
This is yet another accolade for the documentary in recent months. Most recently, “Silver” received the Special Jury Award at the 57th Festival International du Film Alpin des Diablerets, FIFALP, in Switzerland.
The film has also won two awards at the 22nd ZagrebDox International Documentary Film Festival: the Little Stamp Award for Best Film by a Young Filmmaker and a Special Mention in the International Competition. It was also recognised for Best Directing in the Baltic Focus competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Artdocfest/Riga.
The film’s visual approach has also received significant recognition. Stanisław Cuske was awarded the Polish Society of Cinematographers PSC Award in the documentary film category for his work on “Silver”. The distinction in South Korea therefore marks another international success for the film’s cinematography.
“Silver” has also received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Slamdance Film Festival, where it had its US premiere. Earlier, the documentary earned multiple distinctions at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival and the Krakow Film Festival.
“Silver” takes viewers into the oldest silver mine in Bolivia. In the silence and darkness of the underground world, the film follows the lives of a boy, an elderly miner and a woman. Their everyday reality becomes the starting point for a story about colonial legacy, social exclusion and recurring mechanisms of exploitation that continue to persist despite the passage of time.
The film is a Polish-Finnish-Norwegian co-production. The Polish producer is Maciej Kubicki of Telemark, while international festival distribution is handled by KFF Sales.